2017 Toyota Camry Hybrid review: Out of sight, out of mind

Toyota's hybrid sneaks under all radars

Share

I’m kidding, but a drive in a Camry Hybrid doesn’t exactly make one tremble with excitement. Still, the new Camry (refreshed in 2016) has greatly improved materials inside, a larger cabin, more user-friendly controls, better ride/handling and structure, AND the hybrid gets 28 mpg around town. Yes, fuel economy is this car’s strong point to me. The EPA says it should get 40-41 mpg in mixed driving. I saw 28 from the mpg gauge in the dash in straight-up city driving. According to our site, the Hybrid is actually quicker than a regular four-banger. So there’s that.

It’s muy comfortable on the road. Nothing special in terms of handling, mind you, but the ride is smooth and quiet, and the handling DOES seem tighter than it used to -- it feels like it turns more sharply and seems to roll less.

Toyota says its hybrid drivetrain is among the most sophisticated and refined systems available. I mostly agree. It’s true the transition from EV mode to the gasoline engine is smooth. Acceleration is decent, roughly halfway between the four-cylinder Camry and the V6 Toyota says. I say mostly because of the regen brakes. They’re too grabby, like an on-off switch. That’s been a common beef for me about Toyota hybrids.

Our site also points out some rivals that match or best the Toyota: The Ford Fusion Hybrid gets incrementally better fuel economy and is a bit more responsive, while a Honda Accord Hybrid gets even better mileage. And let’s not forget Hyundai’s Sonata Hybrid, which is another decent-looking competitor, at about the same price.

--Wes Raynal, editor

OTHER VOICES:

It takes a humble person to drive a beige Camry Hybrid, someone who wants to be environmentally responsible but not flashy like the green kids with their damn angular Priuses. No sir: The Camry Hybrid -- a nondescript midsize four-door sedan with nondescript Hybrid Synergy Drive badging -- flies under every automotive radar yet devised. Attractive but not a standout, with neither the best fuel economy nor the worst, moderately priced, moderately sized, this car truly is the middle of the road.

That’s not a bad thing, mind you. Like all recent Toyota hybrids, the Camry delivers decent power whether supplied by electricity, gasoline or a blend of the two. The grabby brakes will surprise non-hybrid drivers, but they're easy enough to get used to. Even better, put the Camry in "B" mode and the regen is strong enough to let you drive with the throttle only. All the creature comforts needed by an average driver are present, and they go about their business with minimum fuss.

There's not much else to tell: If you want the fuel economy of a hybrid (my average was close to 36 mpg in mixed driving) but you don't want to be pigeonholed as one of those hybrid drivers, you can stick it to both sides in a Camry Hybrid.

I just put 1,200 miles on this marvel of the midsize sedan segment, and I am perfectly happy having done so. I can see why the Camry has been the best-selling car in America for the last 14 years ...

Looks like everybody else has already driven home this car’s carefully engineered blandness; memory of the Camry fades almost the moment you turn your back on it, if not before. On the plus side, it’s not bad looking. It’s just …beige.

What does stick with me is the smoothness of the car’s hybrid powertrain and the overall solidity of the ride. This is a hybrid that feels neither chintzy nor underpowered. There are some weird mechanical noises when running under electric power, but other than that, Toyota has succeeded in giving drivers a conventional experience.

Except for the brakes; their grabbiness makes them the only part of the vehicle that really needs adjusting to.

When I say this is almost as nice as the last Toyota Avalon I drove, I mean that as a compliment; I can totally understand why a person who doesn’t care about cars would be drawn to a Camry, hybrid or otherwise.

However, I will note that Toyota is far from the only player in the green-car game these days; the recent crop of hybrid variants (as opposed to hybrid-only cars like the Volt or Prius) is very good, too. See the Honda Accord, Chevrolet Malibu, etc.